Police criticised over inquiry into deaths of army recruits

A police force was criticised yesterday for its handling of an investigation into the deaths of four young soldiers at Deepcut barracks in Surrey. Privates Sean Benton, 20, Cheryl James, 18, and 17-year-olds Geoff Gray and James Collinson were each found dead with gunshot wounds at the base between 1995 and 2002.

Surrey police, who reinvestigated amid growing concerns about what was happening inside Deepcut, found no evidence any of the four were murdered. But some relatives believe the force was too quick to conclude the deaths were accidents or suicides. Yesterday, Devon and Cornwall constabulary, which reviewed the Surrey reinvestigation, admitted it could not fully resolve this issue, because Surrey refused to let it assess documents.

A three-page summary of the Devon and Cornwall report published yesterday (the full report is withheld for legal reasons) said: "There is evidence to suggest the investigative focus may have been reduced in the early stages."

Some figures within the Surrey inquiry may have viewed the reinvestigation as "different", and "this mindset may have limited their focus", said Devon and Cornwall. Its officers also criticised confusion over the investigators' roles, but did not find Surrey neglected any lines of inquiry, and did not uncover any evidence of collusion with the army.

However, documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by Geoff Gray, father of one dead soldier, raised issues which, in Devon and Cornwall's view, went to the heart of any possible mindset within Surrey police. "The [Devon and Cornwall] senior investigating officer voiced his concerns the review could not be concluded without reviewing this new issue and indicated his desire to undertake this new work," said the summary. "Surrey police subsequently decided no work should be undertaken by the Devon and Cornwall review into these new documents."